Totternhoe Knolls

Totternhoe Knolls
Site of Special Scientific Interest

Area of Search	Bedfordshire
Grid reference	SP979220
Interest	Biological
Area	13.1 hectares
Notification	1985
Location map	Magic Map

Totternhoe Knolls is a 13.1 hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Totternhoe in Bedfordshire.^[1]^[2] It is also a Local Nature Reserve,^[3]^[4] and part of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.^[5] The site is owned by Central Bedfordshire Council and leased to the National Trust. Most of the site is maintained jointly by the National Trust and the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire (WTBCN), and is part of the WTBCN Totternhoe nature reserve, which also includes Totternhoe Chalk Quarry and Totternhoe Stone Pit. The SSSI also includes Totternhoe Castle, the earthworks of a Norman motte-and-bailey castle which is a Scheduled Monument.^[6]^[7]

Totternhoe Castle mound

Part of the site was formerly quarry workings for Totternhoe stone, a strong chalk that was used in Westminster Abbey. It is now grassland with a rich variety of plant species, including some that are now rare. There are a number of orchids and a wide variety of invertebrates, including butterflies such as the common blue, chalkhill blue, and the scarce small blue and Duke of Burgundy.^[1]^[6]^[3]

Totternhoe Castle was probably built in the late eleventh century. Only the earthworks survive, with a mound five metres tall and 40 metres wide. It is unusual in having three baileys.^[7]

There is access from the National Trust car park off Castle Hill Road.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Totternhoe Knolls.

References

1 2 "Totternhoe Knolls citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
↑ "Map of Totternhoe Knolls". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
1 2 "Totternhoe Knolls". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
↑ "Map of Totternhoe Knolls". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
↑ Langslow, Derek. The Chilterns. English Nature. p. 39.
1 2 "Totternhoe". Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
1 2 "Totternhoe Castle: a motte and bailey castle, medieval quarries and cultivation terraces". Historic England. Retrieved 10 September 2015.

Coordinates: 51°53′07″N 0°34′08″W / 51.8852°N 0.5688°W / 51.8852; -0.5688

External links

BBC Beds, Herts and Bucks, Totternhoe Knolls.

Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Bedfordshire

Biological	Barton Hills Blow's Down Cooper's Hill Deacon Hill Dropshort Marsh Dunstable and Whipsnade Downs Fancott Woods and Meadows Felmersham Gravel Pits Flitwick Moor Galley and Warden Hills Hanger Wood Houghton Regis Marl Lakes Kings and Bakers Woods and Heaths Kings Wood and Glebe Meadows, Houghton Conquest Knocking Hoe Marston Thrift Maulden Church Meadow Maulden Heath Maulden Wood and Pennyfather's Hill Nares Gladley Marsh Odell Great Wood Potton Wood Pulloxhill Marsh Sandy Warren Smithcombe, Sharpenhoe and Sundon Hills Southill Lake and Woods Stevington Marsh Sundon Chalk Quarry Swineshead Wood Tebworth Marsh Tilwick Meadow Totternhoe Chalk Quarry Totternhoe Knolls Wavendon Heath Ponds Yelden Meadows

Geological	Biddenham Pit Double Arches Pit Kensworth Chalk Pit Nine Acres Pit Totternhoe Stone Pit

Local Nature Reserves in Bedfordshire

Bedford	Bromham Lake Browns Wood Fenlake Meadows Harrold-Odell Country Park Hill Rise Mowsbury Hill Park Wood Putnoe Wood

Central Bedfordshire	Cooper's Hill Cottage Bottom Fields Flitton Moor Flitwick Wood Henlow Common and Langford Meadows Kings Wood and Glebe Meadows Marston Thrift Maulden Church Meadow The Riddy Stotfold Mill Meadows Totternhoe Knolls

Luton	Galley and Warden Hills

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